Pirates of the Caribbean 2: the Eternal Legacy
by Scarlett Sophie
Summary: I wrote this before the 2nd movie came out, so instead of scrapping my work I pretended the 2nd & 3rd movies never happened. Will & Elizabeth had a daughter who's obsessed with adventure and runs off to be a pirate. Except she's joined the wrong crew.
1. You'll be good, won't you?

Chapter One

She sat quite primly in her chair, a book held in her lap. Her head was tilted so that it appeared as though she was reading, but really she was listening to the muffled arguing that filtered through to her from her father's study. She could only understand half of what was being said, but she didn't need to hear the rest to comprehend what was going on: they'd been having the same argument since she was twelve.

She heard banging doors, and through the window she saw her mother walking swiftly down the dirt road leading up to their house. Her gingery locks bounced as she walked, and her skirts swayed with elegance that her daughter only dreamed of achieving.

She heard footsteps in the hallway just outside her door. There was a pause, then a fairly audible sigh. She quickly lowered her gaze to her book and tried to appear surprised when her father walked in.

Will Turner was a tall man with long dark hair that was just beginning to show the first signs of graying. He had a thin mustache and a fairly easy smile, as exemplified by the laugh lines around his mouth and the crow's feet at the corners of his eyes. But his eyes, which had once been so merry, were now tired and sad. His shoulders, which had once fit so handsomely into the simple shirts he chose for himself, now sagged rather limply, crushed by the burden of life.

"Did you hear much of it?" he asked, under no pretenses about his daughter's preoccupation. She said nothing for a moment, her light eyes staring into his dark ones.

"Only a bit," she lied, closing her book. He sighed, looking out the window at the palm trees and the port, the many sails fluttering in the distance.

"Your mother and I love each other," he said after a long moment. She resisted rolling her eyes- that was the lie he always told himself to justify why he didn't simply leave. That they had once loved each other, of that she was sure- she'd often heard tales and gossip about their passionate early romance. But somewhere along the way that passion had cooled, only to find themselves trapped by their demanding society.

"Was the new painting delivered?" she asked, artfully changing the subject. He smiled indulgently. At her request they had purchased a new painting to hang over the dining room table, a marvelous piece of art representing a ship at sea during a storm. She had found the work simply breathtaking, gripping and wonderfully poignant, and upon seeing her fascination with the work, neither one of her parents could resist purchasing it for her.

"Not that I am aware of," he said. She smiled, thinking back to the painting and the way the frothy sea lapped up against the sides of the ship. "I'm going to town for a while," he said gently, drawing himself up and walking towards the door. He paused in the doorframe. "You'll be good, won't you Catherine?"

She nodded and smiled. She was sure not to make her smile too sweet, for her father knew her better than anyone and could see right through her.

"I mean it," he said solemnly, his gaze stern. "Nothing violent, and that means fighting. Nothing too wild or adventurous and nothing unladylike. Sometimes I feel as though I've raised a heathen."

She grinned proudly and nodded. Appearing still unconvinced of her intentions, he disappeared.

She jumped up at once and ran to her wardrobe. Underneath a pile of chemises and shifts was a plain blue cotton dress, sadly worn. She swiftly changed into it, removing her pretty pearl necklace and replacing it with a simple locket, engraved with the first letter of her name. She then pulled out a thick wool shawl, tattered and ragged, and threw it over her shoulders. She selected her oldest and most worn pair of sturdy boots, and inside either one of these she tucked a carefully concealed knife, as her mother had taught her.

"If either one of my parents returns home before me, tell them Mary called and that we've gone out calling," she instructed her maid.

Port Royal was a bustling town, and Catherine loved it. She grinned, breathing in deeply the scent of fish and sea-water, allowed the pleasant music of the busy marketplace to fall on her eyes and taking in the many odd characters to be found scattered around the port. Normally she was forbidden to go without an escort, but she found sneaking out of the house to be a far more convenient alternative. Her parents always turned a blind eye to her antics, and so she took every chance she got to come into town and associate with pirates, sailors, and ne'er-do-wells.

She was admiring the wares of a certain shop girl, a thin girl with a pale, pinched face. She eyed with fascination the bracelets and necklaces made from cheap metal, the earbobs made with cheap rocks made to look like precious gems. A man walked over and stood beside her, pretending to be interested by the merchandise, too absorbed by the things laid out before him to actually be observing them. She felt immediately drawn to him. He was a handsome sort, though rather soft-looking to be much of a fighter. He had a slight build but a strong body, soft chocolate eyes and long dark hair that fell in curls about his slightly angular face.

"How much for that bracelet?" she asked the girl, pointing to a thick pewter band with a small piece of turquoise embedded in it.

"Five pence, milady," the girl replied, in thickly accented English.

"Allow me to offer it to you," the man said, speaking for the first time. As he pulled the money out of his pocket he turned to Catherine and smiled. He had an easy smile that made her insides melt, and she said nothing as she smiled back at him and held out her wrist for him to put the bracelet on. "It's not every day you get to buy gifts for a pretty lady. My name is Daniel Weston, by the way."

"Catherine Turner," she said, fingering the bracelet, her eyes fixed on his smiling face.

"I'm a sailor, I've just come in from Barbados," he said. At this her smile grew into a broad grin, and she leaned close to him and whispered in his ear.

"'Sailor' being a euphemism for 'pirate'?" she said. He grinned as she pulled away. She smiled and leaned in again. "Don't worry. I happen to like pirates quite a lot."

He smiled, looking her over. His eyes danced, and she guessed that he liked what he saw.

"Is that so? Perhaps we should discuss that over a bottle of rum, then," he suggested, putting a hand on her waist and taking several steps in the direction of the nearest alehouse. She wrinkled her nose.

"I don't very much like rum," she said. "Couldn't we make it ale instead?"

He threw back his head and laughed, his hand strong and commanding as it pressed on her lower back, insistent that they reach the alehouse soon.

The alehouse was loud and noisy, men laughing and drinking, pushing each other around, all of them red in the face from drink. They seated themselves at a table, dirty from spilled drink and from years of not having been washed, and Daniel went to fetch drinks. In the meantime, Catherine kept her hands in her lap, neatly folded, and her eyes firmly fixed on the table so as not to cause any trouble. In the very back of her mind, she wondered what she was doing here. But she quickly pushed the thought away and forced a smile on her face as Daniel returned to the table.

"One bottle of rum for me," he said, sitting down and putting the drinks on the table. "And a mug of ale for the lady."

He smiled at her in a genuinely sweet way as he set her mug in front of her. She smiled and slowly brought the liquid to her lips, trying not to drink too much.

"So where are you really from? What ship are you sailing?" she asked, putting her mug abruptly down. Her eyes shone brightly with excitement, as they always did when there was talk of adventure.

"We've just come in from Tortuga on the _Dark Goddess_," he said, watching her with a calculating eye. She sighed, picturing the wide expanse of sea that he had just crossed. How she desired to be sailing those seas!

"Was it a long journey?" she asked, turning her gaze on him once more. He shrugged. She frowned, looking confused. "Don't you love being at sea?"

"I like it well enough," he said with a smile. "It's a living, and it provides more freedom than most professions."

Her frown grew deeper and more pronounced, and she leaned towards him.

"If I were in your place, I would be in Heaven," she whispered. "Sailing is freedom, the seas are freedom, and you never appreciate freedom quite so much as when you are trapped in your society because you're the daughter of the city's Minister of Trade and Commerce."

She drew away from him, smiling to herself. Her whole face was glowing.

"I love the feel of the wind in your face and the sea air in your lungs," she said with a sigh of longing. "But sadly, I'm forbidden from enjoying them half as much as I should."

"I take it you don't sail often," he said with a smile, his eyes taking in every single detail about her. She was never more attractive than in the moments when she was thinking about the freedom of the seas and the many adventures she could be having, and he was consciously aware of it.

"Only once, and then I was but an infant," she admitted, her smile fading. "I wish I could sail again, but my parents have kept me chained to this port."

"I left home a few years ago," he answered, fingering his bottle of rum, which was by now nearly empty. "I've been sailing ever since. Sometimes it gets to be a lonely life, but loneliness only makes you appreciate company even more."

He looked up at her and their eyes met. Slowly they both leaned in towards each other, but she turned her head at the last minute and his lips made contact with her cheek.

"My kisses are nothing to be taken lightly," she said, pulling away. She spoke seriously, but her blue eyes were dancing. "You have to earn them first."


	2. The rum finally addled his brains

Chapter Two

"Where has Catherine gone to?" Will demanded as he stormed back into his house. His boots were covered in mud from his excursion, and his face was covered in sweat.

"Miss Mary came and they've both gone out calling," the maid answered primly, following Will into his rooms. He collapsed into a large armchair as she set about finding him a clean shirt and some slippers.

Will knew perfectly well his daughter was not out calling, but he said nothing, leaning his head back and closing his eyes in exhaustion. As long as she came home safe he would say nothing about her unruly behavior.

"Sir, you have a visitor," the butler said, appearing particularly disgusted by the visitor in question. His nose was wrinkled as though he smelled some horrendous odor, and this made his face look even more wrinkled and prune-like than it normally was. "I tried to send him away, but he insists upon seeing you."

Will sighed, too exhausted to create an argument. He waved his hand for the butler to fetch the visitor, and the former disappeared.

A scruffy man with long, unkempt hair and a scraggly mustache walked in. His clothes were but rags, and several of his teeth were missing, replaced by silver or gold substitutes. There was an arrogance which hung about him, and one got the sense that he seemed to know quite a lot about everything. But there was also a distinct feeling of insanity which clung to him, and one felt at once that commonly accepted reason and logic had absolutely no place with him.

"I didn't know you were still alive," Will said calmly without standing up, once the servants had left the room. The visitor smiled.

"You mustn't think unkindly of your old friend Jack," he said, walking around the room and looking at everything, picking things up and observing them with a calculating eye before putting them rather haphazardly back, and never in their original place.

"What do you want, Jack?" Will asked heavily, watching as Jack circled the room. The latter turned suddenly back to him and smiled.

"Why can't an old friend simply pay a visit when he happens to be around? Why does there always have to be an ulterior motive?"

Will stared at him, unconvinced. Jack's smile slowly faded and he gently placed the small ceramic box he held in his hands back on a random shelf.

"Where's Elizabeth?" Jack asked, changing the subject. Will shrugged and Jack smiled knowingly. "That's why you've been drinking rum."

Will glared at him, hating how very well Jack knew him, even after all these years. Jack smiled to himself in a very self-satisfied way.

"Who's that?" he asked, pointing to a large painting of Catherine that hung on the wall behind Will. It had been painted only the year before, and she looked radiant as she stood in their garden, the port and the sea behind her, her eyes dancing and her cheeks rosy with health.

"My daughter Catherine," Will said quietly, glaring at Jack as though advising him not to get any ideas. Jack grinned sheepishly and quickly turned away. "Why are you here?"

"I'm after the greatest treasure on earth," Jack explained, turning round to look at Will. He seemed consumed by something. His eyes were glowing with the passion that he got only when he spoke of adventure on the high seas or of his ship. "It's the treasure of Calypso, the sea-nymph. It's on the other side of the world. All the gold, all the jewels you could ever imagine, yours for the taking. A whole island filled with treasure Man could never even dream of."

He paused, watching his friend. Will was frowning and shaking his head. He stood and walked to the window. It was a long time before he spoke.

"Why don't you go yourself then? I've no interest in such things anymore, Jack. I have a family now, and I've no time to go gallivanting around the globe on a fool's errand."

Jack frowned, obviously attempting to rethink his strategy.

"For the sake of old times, Will," he simpered, plastering a sickeningly sweet smile on his face and clasping his hands together in a beggarly gesture.

Will turned suddenly back to him, frowning, alerted by Jack's hands. Jack Sparrow never obviously begged, he only tried to change the tables in his favor through his wit and power of persuasion.

"Why are you pushing this, Jack? I've no interest in going, and it's not as thought you need me to help sail. Why do you so desperately want me to come with you?"

Jack sighed. The game was over. The only thing left to do was to present the problem in the most favorable terms possible.

"Well, the whole island is actually a bit of a cave, which one can only enter if one breaks through the thick stone door. And since Calypso was a very powerful creature, it's impossible to break the door, and the only person who can open it is one who shares the blood of Calypso herself."

Jack smiled sheepishly, attempting to endear himself to Will. The latter frowned, almost laughing at the silliness of it all. It seemed as though all the rum had finally addled Jack's already fragile mind.

"And you think I-? I'm the son of a pirate and a poor London washerwoman, I've got nothing to do with sea nymphs and treasure," he protested, still smiling at the whole idea.

"On the contrary," Will said quietly, in the voice he always used when he was divulging some very serious yet very essential piece of information. "Bootstrap told me once that his great-great-great-great-great…" He paused, counting on his fingers. He smiled and looked back at Will. "Great-grandfather was the son of Calypso herself. Which means that you, my dear William, can open that cave for me."

Will sighed. Had he not known Jack better, he would have thought that he was joking. He looked out the window again. By now it was dark, and the port glowed with the light of a thousand flames. In the back of his mind, he faintly remembered that there was still no sign of Catherine.

"I'm not going, Jack," he said quietly. "You'll just have to find another treasure for yourself."

Jack nodded, recognizing temporary defeat. He smiled and clapped a hand down on Will's shoulder.

"I know that you're married to Elizabeth, but I still hold out the hope that you might have some rum hidden somewhere around the house."

Just then the door burst open and Elizabeth came in. Her eyes were wild, and she looked ready for a fight. But she stopped when she saw Jack. Her mouth opened slightly, and she looked from one man to the other, trying to make sense of it.

"Jack, what on earth are you doing here?" she asked.

He shrugged, sensing Will's gaze boring into him. Elizabeth frowned, sensing what was going on, the brotherly solidarity, but she said nothing.

"Where's Catherine?" she asked her husband, plastering on a large, fake smile and attempting to pretend that all was normal in her life. She turned back to Jack. "You simply must meet her, I'm sure you will both get along formidably."

"She's not here, Elizabeth," Will said without looking at her. "She's gone out."

The coldness between them had never been more acute than in that instant. Jack looked from one to the other, his eyes wide and his mouth slightly open, obviously out of place and obviously aware of it.

There was a knock on the door and the butler came in.

"A messenger just arrived with a note from Miss Catherine," he said in his perfect English.


	3. Come with me

Chapter Three

"So I take it you've never been a part of high society, then," Catherine said. They were climbing the hill behind the port. She held her skirts up just high enough that she wouldn't step on them as she climbed. In doing so she exposed her ankle, naked except for the neat silk stocking she wore. Daniel kept stealing glances at it, and every time she almost laughed to see him.

"My father was, but as I grew up with my mother, I was never much involved in society," he acknowledged. "I don't think my father even knew I existed, to be honest. When my mother presented things, she always made it clear that I was a miracle, a complete accident, for they'd only been together once."

"What was it that your father did exactly?"

"He was a king, but he also dabbled in war. According to my mother, he was a great general."

"Do you regret not growing up with your father and not growing into his world?" she asked gently. She sat down on a rock and spread her skirts out about her. Her eyes caught the lights of the port, and as she looked at him he was completely transfixed.

"At time yes," he said quietly. "But I love the sea too much to stay away for long."

She looked abruptly away from him. Her face hardened, and her lips pursed into a long, thin line.

"You're lucky," she said quietly. "I have more freedom than all the rest of the girls in this town, but I'm still forced to follow the most important rules that society has lain out, and these are of course the ones I hate the most."

"Such as?"

"Such as I have to marry the man my parents choose. And I can't marry beneath my station. Being the daughter of the city's Minister of Trade and the granddaughter of the old Governor has so many restrictions and rules."

She sighed and looked back at him. He was grinning wildly, his whole face glowing, but not only with the light arising from the city.

"Come with me," he said, his voice full of quiet and forceful intensity. "I'm sure the Captain won't mind an extra pair of hands, and you'll be free. There won't be anything to bind or restrain you. Come, please."

She shook her head, frowning. Her eyes were dancing, though, betraying her intense desire to follow him, to cast all conventions to the wind and simply do as she wished for once.

"I can't," she whispered. He took her hands in his and squeezed them tightly.

"You won't regret it, I promise," he whispered, his smile gone now and his whole face quite serious.

She stared at him for what seemed like an eternity. Finally she grinned, a wild and intensely happy smile. She had only known him for a comparatively short time, but she felt already that she knew him quite intimately. She had even given him her true identity and bared her soul to him. And oh, how much fun it would be to sail the Seven Seas, no one to order her around or tell her what to do!

"'I've joined the crew of the _Dark Goddess_. I can take care of myself. Don't worry and don't come after me. I love you all'," Will read. He glanced up and noticed Jack's face before the pirate had a chance to hide it. He looked as though he were trying to find a way out of an unreasonably uncomfortable situation.

"The _Dark Goddess_ is after the treasure too," he admitted, once Will and Elizabeth had glared at him for long enough. Elizabeth immediately turned to Will and glared.

"I knew this was about treasure! Why don't you ever tell me when you make monumental decisions like this! I would like to be aware when you've suddenly decided to leave on some grand adventure!" she ranted, her cheeks coloring as she spoke. Will ignored her, turning instead to Jack, who was nervously eyeing the furious Elizabeth.

"How exactly does one go about opening the door to the cave, Jack?" Will asked, his insides suddenly writhing as he sensed that his daughter was in danger. Nonetheless, he tried to keep himself calm and his expression blank.

"You have to spill the blood of Calypso on it," Jack said, wincing in case Will should decide to get as violent as his wife. Nothing happened.

"We have to get her back," Will said forcefully. "Can you take me there, Jack?"

"Oh, so it's only after your daughter's been taken that you want to come on my boat! It's not as though you'd shed your blood for your dear friend Jack!" he cried, throwing his hands in the air.

"I didn't say that you could go!" Elizabeth said to Will, her tone quiet and menacing. "Since when do you make decisions without me? I thought that I was a part of this relationship, and that we made decisions together!"

"I've been making decisions without you ever since we got married because the decisions you make are always wrong!" Will yelled back.

Jack winced as he watched them fight, frowning as though he were watching some gory bit of bloodshed. Hesitantly he raised his hand and they both paused to look at him, distracted from their fighting by Jack's odd gesture.

"I suppose I could bring the both of you along, if that would suit you," he said quietly, wincing in case someone should decide to start yelling at him next.

"I'm going," Will stated, in such a tone that didn't allow for argument.

"I'm coming, too," Elizabeth said sternly, holding her head high and pursing her lips. Will opened his mouth to protest, but closed it almost instantly.

"Well then, we'd best be off," Jack said with a bright smile as he sauntered from the room. Will and Elizabeth looked at each other, looking both angry and hateful of each other, but they each betrayed laughter in their eyes as they watched Jack. Smiling, they followed him from the room.


	4. I'm the first respectable girl

Chapter Four

It was a great, hulking ship that Catherine set foot on. Everything was dark and bathed in shadows. The deck was lit by a single lamp which hung over the entrance to the Captain's quarters and which swung sadly in the sea breeze. But somehow everything came to life as Daniel set foot on board: sailors came out of their cabins, began climbing the rigging, tightening the ropes and clearing the deck of unnecessary clutter. They were quite a loud group, but silence fell as soon as the door to the Captain's quarters swung open with a morbid sound that echoed throughout the ship.

He was a huge man, as great and hulking as his ship. He had a great, thinning mane of gray hair and a scraggly beard. His face was scarred and pitted, his nose broken several times. His two eyes were extremely round and seemed to take up the better part of his face as they scanned the gathered crowd; they seemed to see everything, and Catherine shuddered slightly as she looked at him.

"What's going on?" he demanded loudly, in a gravelly but forceful voice that wielded great authority and commanded the attention of all who heard it.

"This is Catherine Turner, Captain," Daniel said, stepping forward and motioning to Catherine. "She'd like to join our crew."

The captain took a step in her direction and looked her up and down. Not a single detail escaped his notice. His eyes especially lingered on her clean, soft hands, devoid of calluses or bruises and so mismatched with her shabby dress. She longed to hide them in the folds of her skirts, but she knew that would attract more attention than if she left them alone, and so she restrained herself.

"Turner, eh?" he asked, raising his thick gray eyebrows. He broke into a small, knowing smiled, exposing his few teeth. Catherine felt her insides twist uncomfortably as he rested his mirthless smile on her. "I think we might have some use for you on this ship." He turned to the crew, his expression instantly changing to one of boundless fury. "Hoist the mainsail! Raise the anchor! Hurry up you dogs, we've no time to waste!"

The ship burst once more into life. Sailors yelled, ropes flew, sails fell into place as they unfurled themselves in preparation for the voyage. Catherine watched as Daniel rushed to help raise the anchor, fascinated by both the concentrated effort he put into the activity, as well as the oddly transfixing way his muscles moved under his shirt as he worked.

"Come on," Daniel said once the ship was underway. He put a hand on her back and led her to the ship's hold.

There was nothing down there save some food and rum, some gunpowder and cannonballs and one crate of expensive Italian wine. Catherine sat on the damp and slightly moldy steps as Daniel found a light, trying not to look too disgusted.

"It's not much of a first impression, is it?" he asked, looking a little saddened by the ship's less-than-welcoming appearance. "Still, I call it home. Are you hungry? We've got the finest grub this side of the Atlantic."

"I'm fine, thank you," she said with a smile. "I like it too, don't you worry."

He had looked away from her, avoiding her gaze, but now he looked back at her and smiled, comforted by her words.

"You're the first girl I've met who's not afraid of pirates," he remarked, smiling slightly. She grinned.

"You mean I'm the first respectable girl."

He laughed but didn't deny it, coming to sit beside her on the stairs. She suddenly became aware that they were quite alone in the ship's hold, and noticed that he had begun to slowly lean in towards her. But before their lips could touch the door swung open with a bang and, startled, they pulled away from each other just as a greasy pirate with very few teeth came down the steps. Recognizing who was already down there, he leered at them and let out a low bark of laughter.

"Weston's made friends with the new girl!" he laughed. Catherine kept her eyes on the ground and her hands folded in her lap. Her stomach writhed in fear, for she hated men of that sort. She was ready at any moment to pull a knife from her boot.

"Go away, Reddan," Daniel said angrily, but without looking at him.

"'Oo made you cap'n of the ship?" Reddan demanded, pushing past them and sauntering off towards the bottles of rum. Daniel said nothing. "I've a right to me share o' rum, and in the meanstwhiles I've also got a right to look."

"No, you haven't," Daniel said in a low and dangerous voice. Catherine looked at him suddenly, slightly frightened by the anger in his tone. Reddan chuckled.

"I'd love to see you try to hurt me," he said, walking up the stairs again. He just set foot on the step on which Daniel was sitting when Daniel sprang up, pushing Reddan down the stairs and cornering him against the wall of the ship. He held a knife to his throat, his eyes flashing with anger.

Catherine had sprung up now, and she was watching, mostly horrified but also slightly impressed and flattered. She watched as Daniel breathed loudly, his chest heaving. His blade glinted in the firelight, and after what seemed like the longest moment in the history of the world, he slowly pulled it away from Reddan's throat, with what seemed to be an obvious effort.

Reddan stared at Daniel for a moment, his eyes wide and fearful. Then, seizing his chance, he ran from the hold, letting the door slam loudly behind himself. Daniel watched him leave, slowly putting his knife back in his pocket.

Catherine said nothing as he slowly walked over to her. He slowly turned his gaze up at her, and suddenly it was not the angry, monstrous gaze he'd possessed moments before, but rather a soft and loving gaze that made her insides melt. Slowly, she raised his hand to her mouth and kissed the palm, slowly, tenderly. Then she leaned closer and kissed his lips, allowing her own lips to linger for as long as they liked.

"Isn't this the fastest ship in the Caribbean?" Elizabeth demanded angrily of Jack. The latter said nothing, but opened his compass and turned the wheel slightly so that they were on course. "Shouldn't we have caught up with them by now?"

Jack still said nothing, focusing his gaze on the horizon. Elizabeth let out an exasperated sigh and stormed off. Once he was sure she was out of earshot, Jack leaned towards Gibbs.

"In case I had forgotten to mention it before, I would advise hiding the rum."

"Go talk to him," Elizabeth ordered her husband furiously, pointing angrily in the direction of Jack. Her eyes were blazing and any normal man would instantly have complied. But Will turned away from the sea and rested his tired gaze on her instead. "He listens to you. Tell him to make the ship go faster!"

He sighed and looked back out to sea.

"The ship is going as fast as it can. You can't will it to get you there instantly," he said heavily, as though speaking to an ignorant child who refuses to comprehend a very simple problem.

Exhausted by his words, her shoulders sagged and she crumpled to the floor. Alarmed, Will bent down over her, but relaxed once he saw that she was alright.

"I blame myself," Elizabeth said quietly. Never before had she looked so tired, so utterly crushed by everything. "I let her have too much freedom. I let her think she could have anything she wanted."

Will sighed and sat down beside her. Slowly, gently, he reached out and put his arm around her shoulder. Usually the gesture would have startled her- it was the most intimate they'd been in years- but now she was just too tired to react.

"It's not your fault. Catherine is a free spirit. She's always done as she pleased. There's nothing any of us could have done to stop her. It would have happened eventually." He paused, looking over at his wife with what could have passed for intense affection. "I think she takes after her mother in that respect."

Elizabeth turned up to him and smiled, her eyes dancing, that wonderful mirth that she normally possessed finally restored to her, if only for a moment. But only a second later the joy was gone from her eyes and the worry and exhaustion settled back into her body. She leaned her head against his shoulder and closed her eyes. It was a long time before Will realized that she was asleep, for he lost himself in his own thoughts and it took him a while to find his way back again. When he did, he too closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep, that sweet oblivion that provides an escape from all the unpleasant truths of the world.


	5. Hold out your hand

Chapter Five

She was awoken by Daniel roughly shaking her. She had fallen asleep curled up in one corner of the hold after a night of heavy rum drinking and a loud and raucous party held by the rest of the crew in her honor. After several days in her presence they had grown to like her and had become friendly, regarding her as one of their own, all of them finally conceding that she belonged to no one but Daniel and the sea. She remembered falling asleep with her head on Daniel's chest, but she supposed that he must have gently pried himself away from her in the middle of the night, for she now found his coat neatly folded and tucked under her head.

He smiled at her as he pulled away from her, and their eyes met, but he straightened up abruptly and pulled her up the stairs and onto the deck, where the rest of the crew was already assembled.

"To the boats!" the Captain yelled. There was a mad scramble to reach the boats and gain a good seat, where one wouldn't have to row. Catherine joined the scramble, laughing gaily and charmed by the whole primal aspect of everything.

Like a gentleman, Daniel helped her into the boat before he got in himself, allowing her the prime seat away from the oars. She smiled at him from under lowered lashes as she daintily stepped into the boat and seated herself.

The boats bounced as they hit the water, and they rapidly approached the island, a great cave towering over them, made from some dark granite or other dark-colored rock.

"What exactly are we doing?" Catherine whispered to Daniel, slightly disconcerted by the cave's menacing appearance.

"I haven't got the faintest idea, no one ever tells me anything," he whispered back. But he didn't look at her as he spoke, and kept his attention focused on manning his oar in tandem with the other men.

There was a feeling of foreboding that hung about the island, and somehow Catherine knew that only evil would come of setting foot on that beach.

She touched the small locket around her neck. She smiled, feeling the engraved "C" on it. She slowly unclasped it, clenching it tightly in her fist, so tightly that the engraving etched itself in her skin.

"Daniel," she said quietly, so that no one else would hear. "Hold out your hand."

He looked at her for a moment, frowning, but smiling all the same, his eyes dancing as he complied with her request. She slowly dropped the locket into his palm. He looked at it for a moment, then back at her, the laughter gone from his eyes, frowning in a most confused way.

"What is this?"

"I want you to know that I love you as I've never loved a man before. I would lay down my life for you. I would follow you to the ends of the earth. Take this as proof of my devotion."

He looked down at it again and stared at it for a long time. The metal caught the light of the sun and it winked at him. She could feel the boat running against the sand as it hit shore, and he looked back at her. Their eyes met, and he forced a small smile, just for her.

He climbed out of the boat first. She stood, clutching her skirt in one hand, the other hand outstretched, waiting for him to help her. He couldn't help himself, and he picked her up by the waist, his grip strong, and he spun her around so that her skirts flew out around her like a bell. She laughed, tossing her curls joyfully. As he set her down, he leaned in and kissed her passionately, his lips violent and demanding. Her arms flew around his neck, and as they parted she was grinning.

"I'm glad I decided to come with you," she said, her eyes shinning.

His face fell slightly, but he kept smiling. The laughter went from his eyes, but he forced himself to smile, just for her. She noticed the difference, but it was so subtle and well-hidden that she said nothing, sure that it wasn't anything of much importance.

"Get over here!" the captain yelled at them. He was standing in front of a smooth rock wall. He noticed Catherine as soon as she approached them, and he motioned for her to step to the front of the group. Slightly confused, she obeyed, exchanging looks with Daniel. He refused to meet her gaze, though, and pretending to be absorbed by a small crab scuttling sideways across the sand.

She turned her gaze instead on the cave. She stared at the rock, transfixed. There was something about the rock that called out to her, a voice echoing in her head strange words that she could not quite make out, and she touched it lightly with the palm of her hand.

"Behold the gateway to the cave sealed by Calypso herself in days only our forefathers remember!" the captain said, speaking in a loud and somewhat ceremonial voice that rang out over the whole beach.

Catherine stared at the rock in horror, alerted by the voices in her head, which had suddenly become angry and violent. The rock suddenly filled her with a sense of fear and revulsion. She took several steps backward, until she was stopped by the solid wall of pirates that surrounded her. For the first time since her arrival on the ship, they looked at her not with a friendly gaze, but with rather a cruel and menacing one. She wished suddenly that she were far away from here, that she had never set foot on the island. The captain's gaze bore down on her, and she felt small and insignificant beneath his concentrated stare.

"Hold out your hand, Miss Turner," he commanded, holding his own hand out rather expectantly.

"Why?" she demanded, frowning as she clutched her hands close to her chest, as though she wanted to keep them as far away from him as possible. The captain smiled cruelly at her, his eyes cold.

"There's no reason to be questioning the judgment of your captain, Miss Turner," he said, smiling falsely, in a tone that should have passed for friendly and inviting but that rather sent chills down her spine. "Now, if you'll just hold out your hand-"

He took a step in her direction, and in one swift, practiced gesture, she pulled a knife from her boot and held it pointed in his direction, her gaze fiery.

"Take one step in my direction and I swear I'll cut you from navel to throat," she said, her voice quiet and dangerous. He laughed.

"I doubt you have the strength to fight me, Miss Turner," he said, smiling. "Put the knife away and this will all be over sooner than you think."

"Don't touch her!"

The cry echoed over the beach. As one, the whole group turned to look at Daniel, even Catherine and the captain. His hands were shaking, balled up into fists, and his eyes were wide.

"Shut up, Weston!" someone called out.

The captain held up a hand for silence. His lips were parted in a small smile, as though he found it all to be a rather amusing joke, and he slowly advanced on Daniel, Catherine apparently forgotten.

"Don't tell me you haven't told her," he said, glancing back at Catherine. Her eyes were wide, and she looked from one to the other, unsure what was going on. She still held her knife in her hand, pointing it directly at the captain, but her hand was shaking quite violently. The captain looked at her for a long moment, his gaze lingering on the hand that held the knife, then looked back at Daniel and grinned. "So you didn't tell her that the only reason she's here is because we need her blood to open that door?"

Catherine's mouth fell open and tears welled up in her eyes. She stared in shock at Daniel, who stood there shaking his head in a failed attempt to negate the accusation, his hands clenching and unclenching in an effort to steel himself.

"It's not true, Catherine! I love you!" he yelled, but she didn't seem to hear him.

"I trusted you! I left my home for you, my family!" she yelled back, the tears flowing freely down her tanned cheeks. "I loved you, Daniel!"

Her tirade was interrupted by the captain's cold, hard laugh that rang out over the sands. He stood directly between them smiling, looking from one to the other, taking obvious pleasure in the situation.

"Though it pains me to interrupt this touching scene, I fear we haven't got the luxury of eternity, and must be moving on."

He took a small knife out of his pocket and began advancing on Catherine. She had lowered her knife slightly, but she raised it up again, holding it at the ready, preparing herself to stab him straight through the heart. She clenched her jaw, trying to force out all thoughts of Daniel and to focus on the imminent fight that was sure to ensue as she fought for her life.

But just as he was about to bring the knife bearing down on her, someone attacked him from behind, jumping on his back and pinning his arms to his sides. Catherine stared for a moment, not sure what to think. No one paid her any mind, rooted to the spot as she was, the rest of the crew pushing past her in an attempt to free their captain from his assailant without hurting the captain. Catherine wasn't quite sure what happened, but she felt something hitting the back of her head, and she fell to the ground in one graceful movement that was so perfectly executed that it might as well have been rehearsed.

The noise was so loud and the fight so fierce that the sounds echoed across the whole island. Everyone was completely engrossed in the fight between Daniel and the captain, and nothing could possibly have distracted them at that moment. Had anyone glanced over to the place where Catherine had fallen, however, they would have seen a tall figure carrying a limp creature in his arms racing across the beach as fast as he could, towards a far-off dinghy nestled in the sand.


	6. Things parents never tell their children

Chapter Six

"Wake up, Catherine," someone was saying. She felt water being gently sprinkled on her face.

She blearily opened her eyes, recognizing her parents. She frowned, not remembering how they'd gotten there.

"What happened?" she asked, sitting up and rubbing her head. It was throbbing painfully, and she winced as she touched it.

"You ran away," her mother reminded her in a gentle tone, taking her hand and squeezing it. Catherine was overwhelmed by the love and concern in her eyes, and she had to look away almost as soon as she looked into them. "We got you out of there just as they were about to kill you."

It was all coming back now. A great lump in her throat arose as she thought of some great and painful wrong which had been done to her, the specifics of which she could not quite recall. But slowly the memory began to take shape, and as she remembered Daniel's smiling face, kind eyes and gentle, loving lips, she erupted into violent tears. Her mother quickly wrapped her in her arms, hugging her tightly and smoothing out her golden hair.

"Why is it that she's crying after she's just been rescued from a near-death situation?"

Catherine pulled roughly away from her mother and glared at the speaker. He looked extremely uncomfortable beneath her fiery gaze, and attempted to hide behind Will.

"I believe you would cry too if you had fallen madly in love, only to find that your lover was never really in love with you and that he had been planning to kill you the whole time," she spat at him.

Jack frowned, pretending to seriously consider the question.

"I don't believe I've ever been in that situation," he said thoughtfully. "Of course, there are a lot of people who want to kill me, but none of them were ever my lovers. No one loves me enough to be my lover."

Catherine stared furiously at him, longing to wring his neck. She looked from one parent to the next, her gaze demanding of them how they could possibly have gotten on the same ship as this character.

"Catherine, this is an old friend of ours, Captain Jack Sparrow," her mother said in a soothing tone, though her eyes warned her daughter to be polite in an angry flash that rivaled her daughter's own furious gaze.

"Mother, you never told me you associated with pirates!" Catherine said accusingly, not so much surprised by her mother's relation with this man as her father's. Her mother gave her a sheepish look and an apologetic shrug, and Catherine stood up and eyed Jack.

"You never asked your parents if they associated with pirates, did you?" he asked, advancing on her. She said nothing, wishing she could answer in any way but an incriminating one. Jack smiled slightly. "It's hardly their fault for your ignorance then, now is it?"

She glared at him furiously. Her parents stood up as one, exchanging worried looks. They planted themselves firmly on either side of their daughter, as though to prevent her from going at him.

"You should go below deck and get some rest," her father suggested kindly, putting an arm on her shoulder. "You've had a very trying day and I'm sure you're exhausted."

Catherine said nothing but angrily shrugged his hand away, glaring at Jack as she sauntered past him in an annoyed and slightly arrogant way. Will sighed.

"She got too much of your personality," he said with a smile. Elizabeth laughed and tossed her head, and he allowed his gaze to linger on her.

She was alone on deck, standing by the ship's rail, watching the sea. He came over and stood beside her. She pretended not to see him.

"I take it you like the sea, then?" he asked. She said nothing, refusing to speak to him. "You know what will make all of your silly emotional problems go away?"

She looked at him now, obviously interested. He grinned wolfishly, pleased with himself.

"A bottle of rum heals all wounds."

"What is it with pirates and rum?" she demanded, pursing her lips to prevent a smile and looking away to keep him from seeing the laughter in her eyes. "You know, all of a sudden a lot of things make sense. I always wondered why my father preferred rum to port."

Jack smiled to himself, thinking back to times long-gone.

"Were you good friends with my parents?" she asked.

"We've gotten each other out of some scrapes," he said with a grin.

"I can't imagine my parents on a pirate ship," she mused. "They're always so proper, so perfectly dressed, always insisting on perfect behavior and manners… I wonder why they never told me."

"There are a lot of things parents never tell their children," Jack said, sounding incredibly profound for perhaps the first time in his life. "They always do it so that they can protect their children and keep them from making the same mistakes they did, but in the end ignorance always leads to trouble."

Catherine smiled, touched by the truth in his words. She'd been about to say something in response, but Jack spoke again.

"So who's the lover who snared you under false pretenses?" he asked, without looking at her. "Which, I might add, is not exactly a rare occurrence these days."

She pursed her lips and clenched the railing to control herself. At the reminder of Daniel she felt a pain deep inside of her, a pain so sharp and so deep that she'd almost gasped for breath. It stabbed directly at her heart, and she could feel her insides writhing and her heart throbbing as she thought of him, desperately trying to control the tears that were welling up in her throat and attempting to burst forth.

"You might at least tell me his name," Jack said meditatively. "I mean, I haven't come all this way to rescue you only to be kept in the dark about why I've come. Being in the dark is ever so annoying, as I'm sure you well know by now."'

"His name is Daniel Weston," she said quietly, her voice almost a whisper, barely audibly above the lapping of the waves at the ship's hull, her voice so thin that it almost disappeared into the wind.

Jack frowned, looking pensive. He glanced furtively back at Catherine, considered speaking, then thought the better of it when he saw how her eyes were shinning with tears.

"I just fell so madly in love with him," she said quietly, shaking her head sadly. "I don't even know why. I think it was his hair. But I fell for him so badly that I swear I would have followed him to the ends of the earth if he had asked it."

As she spoke she was fingering the pewter bracelet he had given her. She was biting her lower lip to keep from crying, and Jack glanced quickly behind him in the hopes that either Will or Elizabeth was on deck. He felt completely unprepared to deal with this situation, and his discomfort was plainly visible, though Catherine was too self-absorbed to pay him much mind.

"I hope his captain killed him," she said coldly, her expression hardening. "I hope he fell off his ship and bloody drowned himself."

"Now, now, no need to be unkind," Jack said awkwardly, gingerly patting her shoulder as though she were a germ-infested parasite that he wished to keep as far away from himself as possible. "We've all been the victims of liars and frauds at least once, mostly when we're drunk. You weren't drunk, were you? Because I don't think your parents would take too well to that…"

She shot him a cold stare and he quickly pulled his hand away, as though she were going to bite it.

"I think I'll go find my parents now," she said, sighing heavily. She knew that either one of them would be much more comfort to her than Jack was being, though she sincerely appreciated the effort he was putting out.

She turned around and had taken several steps away from him when Jack spoke.

"Oh, bugger."

She turned around to look at him in questioning, but she didn't need any other words to understand what was going on. In the distance one could just make out white sails and a pirate flag, rapidly advancing on their own ship.

"How did they catch up so fast?" she demanded, following Jack around the ship as he bellowed orders at the crew.

"It's a bit complicated," he said, taking the wheel. She folded her arms across her chest and glared at him. He sighed. "Basically Captain Monassa sold his soul to Calypso if she would grant him eternal life and make his ship invincible. She fulfilled most of his request- you can't make a bloody hole on his ship, while he can blast the begeezus out of you, and it's pretty much the fastest ship in the Caribbean, after the _Pearl _of course. But he lives only until someone stabs him through the heart. Or so people say."

He smiled slightly, then frowned and concentrated on the task at hand, continuing to bellow orders in an authoritative voice that rang across the deck. Catherine turned and stared in horror at the _Goddess_. It was looming ever closer. Her parents were on deck, preparing with the others for an imminent battle. She grinned as they worked together to load a cannon. Her parents had taught her never to back down from a fight. During this whole adventure she had behaved like a damsel in distress, a lily-livered coward- but no more. Now she would stand and fight with the rest of them.

Jack slowly turned the ship around. They began bearing down on the _Goddess_, who came ever ominously closer.

"Take this," Will said, handing his daughter a sword, made from the finest metal, a true testament to craftsmanship. She grinned as she took it. Her father had taught her everything he knew about swords and sword fighting almost as soon as she could walk. He grinned back at her. "Play nice."

Cannon fire shook the ship almost as soon as they were abreast of each other. Guns roared loudly and Catherine watched, awed, as both her parents called to the rest of the crew to fire again. Never had she seen them so full of authority and anger, so sure of themselves and of what they were doing.

Members of the _Goddess_' crew swung onto the _Pearl_ on thick ropes. Some were shot down as they swung from one ship to the next, but those who survived began attacking as soon as they landed on the deck of the _Pearl_, laughing wickedly as they shed blood. Catherine got in the middle of it as soon as she could, deftly swinging her own sword with practiced wrist movements and flawless footwork.

"Catherine!"

He said her name as recognition spread across his face. Both their swords were raised over their heads, locked together.

"I didn't mean to hurt you!" he yelled over the commotion as she disentangled her sword and swung again. "I did at the beginning, but then-"

He stopped talking as she swung again, more violently this time. It seemed as though all of his energy was going into fending her off and defending himself.

"I intend to kill you in the most gruesome way possible," she said angrily, her voice slightly more raised than she wished it to be, so that he could hear her over the cannons.

"I could never hurt you," he said, lowering his sword. "Kill me if you like, but I refuse to fight you."

She kept her sword raised, but when she saw the tragic and forlorn look in his eyes she slowly lowered it. She shook her head, refusing to look at him any more, afraid that she would fall into his arms and forgive him everything.

"I can't fight someone who won't defend themselves."

"Lower your swords!"

The cry rang out so loudly that the people on both ships could hear it. Everyone at once complied with the odd order, curiosity overtaking the desire for bloodshed. Every man turned as one towards Monassa, who stood on the ship's railing, one hand clutching the rigging, his face broken into a frightening, self-satisfied smile.

"Jack, I don't want to sink your ship," he said sweetly. "After all, we were such good friends in the past." Jack smiled falsely back, and Catherine bit her lower lip to keep herself from laughing. "So I propose that we strike a deal. Give up the girl and I'll let your crew and your ship free."

Jack frowned, considering the proposal. He cocked his head to one side as he thought, looking as though the effort of thought put a great strain on him. All eyes were turned on him, and an expectant and tense silence hung in the air. Finally he shook his head.

"I don't much like that idea. I actually have a much better one, if you'd care to hear it…"

Monassa rolled his eyes, and Catherine exchanged smiles with her mother, who stood by one of the cannons. She was beginning to like Jack enormously.

"You don't need the girl."

All eyes turned now to Will. He was looking at Monassa, his face hard, his expression resolute. Elizabeth let out an audible sigh.

"Why does he always do this? Why can't he just trust Jack?" she demanded in a low hiss.

"I'm her father. The blood that runs in her veins also runs in mine," he said, his voice ringing clearly over the ship's deck. Monassa smiled to himself, stroking his scraggly beard thoughtfully. "You can use me to open the door instead."

"How touching," Monassa said quietly. "A father's love for his child."

"He's not my father!" Catherine yelled. Everyone turned as one to look at her. Monassa sighed angrily, beginning to tire of the many twists and turns that this conversation was taking. "He's just a crew member, a friend of my mother's; he's known me since I was a baby. And so if you want my blood, you'll have to agree to my terms."

She took several steps forward, smiling slightly, sensing that she controlled everything now.

"You let the _Pearl_ and all of its crew go. That includes Jack Sparrow and the man claiming to be my father."

Monassa smiled, clearly ready to accept her terms. She held up a hand to show that she was not done speaking.

"You are to let them go and never follow them again, never fight them. If you agree to this, then you are free to do with me as you will. Do we have an accord?"

Monassa stepped out onto the deck and walked towards her. He was still smiling as he held out his hand for her to shake. Her expression as she took his hand and shook it was as hard and resolute as her father's had been.

His men instantly fell on her, tying her wrists and roughly yanking her sword from her. She didn't resist, but kept her head high as they led her across the plank and onto their own ship.


End file.
